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Performing common RMAN tasks for Oracle DB instances

In the following section, you can find how you can perform Oracle Recovery Manager (RMAN) DBA tasks on your Amazon RDS DB instances running Oracle. To deliver a managed service experience, Amazon RDS doesn't provide shell access to DB instances. It also restricts access to certain system procedures and tables that require advanced privileges.

Use the Amazon RDS package rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util to perform RMAN backups of your Amazon RDS for Oracle database to disk. The rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util package supports full and incremental database file backups, tablespace backups, and archived redo log backups.

After an RMAN backup has finished, you can copy the backup files off the Amazon RDS for Oracle DB instance host. You might do this for the purpose of restoring to a non-RDS host or for long-term storage of backups. For example, you can copy the backup files to an Amazon S3 bucket. For more information, see using Amazon S3 integration.

The backup files for RMAN backups remain on the Amazon RDS DB instance host until you remove them manually. You can use the UTL_FILE.FREMOVE Oracle procedure to remove files from a directory. For more information, see FREMOVE procedure in the Oracle Database documentation.

You can't use the RMAN to restore RDS for Oracle DB instances. However, you can use RMAN to restore a backup to an on-premises or Amazon EC2 instance. For more information, see the blog article Restore an Amazon RDS for Oracle instance to a self-managed instance.

Prerequisites for RMAN backups

Before backing up your database using the rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util package, make sure that you meet the following prerequisites:

Common parameters for RMAN procedures

You can use procedures in the Amazon RDS package rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util to perform tasks with RMAN. Several parameters are common to the procedures in the package. The package has the following common parameters.

Validating DB instance files

You can use the Amazon RDS package rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util to validate Amazon RDS for Oracle DB instance files, such as data files, tablespaces, control files, or server parameter files (SPFILEs).

For more information about RMAN validation, see Validating database files and backups and VALIDATE in the Oracle documentation.

Validating a DB instance

To validate all of the relevant files used by an Amazon RDS Oracle DB instance, use the Amazon RDS procedure rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util.validate_database.

This procedure uses the following common parameters for RMAN tasks:

For more information, see Common parameters for RMAN procedures.

The following example validates the DB instance using the default values for the parameters.

EXEC rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util.validate_database;

The following example validates the DB instance using the specified values for the parameters.

BEGIN
    rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util.validate_database(
        p_validation_type     => 'PHYSICAL+LOGICAL', 
        p_parallel            => 4,  
        p_section_size_mb     => 10,
        p_rman_to_dbms_output => FALSE);
END;
/

When the p_rman_to_dbms_output parameter is set to FALSE, the RMAN output is written to a file in the BDUMP directory.

To view the files in the BDUMP directory, run the following SELECT statement.

SELECT * FROM table(rdsadmin.rds_file_util.listdir('BDUMP')) order by mtime;

To view the contents of a file in the BDUMP directory, run the following SELECT statement.

SELECT text FROM table(rdsadmin.rds_file_util.read_text_file('BDUMP','rds-rman-validate-nnn.txt'));

Replace the file name with the name of the file you want to view.

Validating a tablespace

To validate the files associated with a tablespace, use the Amazon RDS procedure rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util.validate_tablespace.

This procedure uses the following common parameters for RMAN tasks:

For more information, see Common parameters for RMAN procedures.

This procedure also uses the following additional parameter.

Validating a control file

To validate only the control file used by an Amazon RDS Oracle DB instance, use the Amazon RDS procedure rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util.validate_current_controlfile.

This procedure uses the following common parameter for RMAN tasks:

For more information, see Common parameters for RMAN procedures.

Validating an SPFILE

To validate only the server parameter file (SPFILE) used by an Amazon RDS Oracle DB instance, use the Amazon RDS procedure rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util.validate_spfile.

This procedure uses the following common parameter for RMAN tasks:

For more information, see Common parameters for RMAN procedures.

Validating a data file

To validate a data file, use the Amazon RDS procedure rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util.validate_datafile.

This procedure uses the following common parameters for RMAN tasks:

For more information, see Common parameters for RMAN procedures.

This procedure also uses the following additional parameters.

Enabling and disabling block change tracking

Block changing tracking records changed blocks in a tracking file. This technique can improve the performance of RMAN incremental backups. For more information, see Using Block Change Tracking to Improve Incremental Backup Performance in the Oracle Database documentation.

RMAN features aren't supported in a read replica. However, as part of your high availability strategy, you might choose to enable block tracking in a read-only replica using the procedure rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util.enable_block_change_tracking. If you promote this read-only replica to a source DB instance, block change tracking is enabled for the new source instance. Thus, your instance can benefit from fast incremental backups.

Block change tracking procedures are supported in Enterprise Edition only for the following DB engine versions:

To enable block change tracking for a DB instance, use the Amazon RDS procedure rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util.enable_block_change_tracking. To disable block change tracking, use disable_block_change_tracking. These procedures take no parameters.

To determine whether block change tracking is enabled for your DB instance, run the following query.

SELECT STATUS, FILENAME FROM V$BLOCK_CHANGE_TRACKING;

The following example enables block change tracking for a DB instance.

EXEC rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util.enable_block_change_tracking;

The following example disables block change tracking for a DB instance.

EXEC rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util.disable_block_change_tracking;

Crosschecking archived redo logs

You can crosscheck archived redo logs using the Amazon RDS procedure rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util.crosscheck_archivelog.

You can use this procedure to crosscheck the archived redo logs registered in the control file and optionally delete the expired logs records. When RMAN makes a backup, it creates a record in the control file. Over time, these records increase the size of the control file. We recommend that you remove expired records periodically.

This procedure uses the common parameter p_rman_to_dbms_output for RMAN tasks.

For more information, see Common parameters for RMAN procedures.

This procedure also uses the following additional parameter.

This procedure is supported for the following Amazon RDS for Oracle DB engine versions:

The following example marks archived redo log records in the control file as expired, but does not delete the records.

BEGIN
    rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util.crosscheck_archivelog(
        p_delete_expired      => FALSE,  
        p_rman_to_dbms_output => FALSE);
END;
/

The following example deletes expired archived redo log records from the control file.

BEGIN
    rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util.crosscheck_archivelog(
        p_delete_expired      => TRUE,  
        p_rman_to_dbms_output => FALSE);
END;
/

Backing up archived redo logs

You can use the Amazon RDS package rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util to back up archived redo logs for an Amazon RDS Oracle DB instance.

The procedures for backing up archived redo logs are supported for the following Amazon RDS for Oracle DB engine versions:

Backing up all archived redo logs

To back up all of the archived redo logs for an Amazon RDS Oracle DB instance, use the Amazon RDS procedure rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util.backup_archivelog_all.

This procedure uses the following common parameters for RMAN tasks:

For more information, see Common parameters for RMAN procedures.

The following example backs up all archived redo logs for the DB instance.

BEGIN
    rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util.backup_archivelog_all(
        p_owner               => 'SYS', 
        p_directory_name      => 'MYDIRECTORY',
        p_parallel            => 4, 
        p_tag                 => 'MY_LOG_BACKUP',
        p_rman_to_dbms_output => FALSE);
END;
/
            

Backing up an archived redo log from a date range

To back up specific archived redo logs for an Amazon RDS Oracle DB instance by specifying a date range, use the Amazon RDS procedure rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util.backup_archivelog_date. The date range specifies which archived redo logs to back up.

This procedure uses the following common parameters for RMAN tasks:

For more information, see Common parameters for RMAN procedures.

This procedure also uses the following additional parameters.

The following example backs up archived redo logs in the date range for the DB instance.

BEGIN
    rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util.backup_archivelog_date(
        p_owner               => 'SYS', 
        p_directory_name      => 'MYDIRECTORY',
        p_from_date           => '03/01/2019 00:00:00',
        p_to_date             => '03/02/2019 00:00:00',
        p_parallel            => 4,  
        p_tag                 => 'MY_LOG_BACKUP',
        p_rman_to_dbms_output => FALSE);
END;
/
            

Backing up an archived redo log from an SCN range

To back up specific archived redo logs for an Amazon RDS Oracle DB instance by specifying a system change number (SCN) range, use the Amazon RDS procedure rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util.backup_archivelog_scn. The SCN range specifies which archived redo logs to back up.

This procedure uses the following common parameters for RMAN tasks:

For more information, see Common parameters for RMAN procedures.

This procedure also uses the following additional parameters.

The following example backs up archived redo logs in the SCN range for the DB instance.

BEGIN
    rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util.backup_archivelog_scn(
        p_owner               => 'SYS', 
        p_directory_name      => 'MYDIRECTORY',
        p_from_scn            => 1533835,
        p_to_scn              => 1892447,
        p_parallel            => 4,
        p_tag                 => 'MY_LOG_BACKUP',
        p_rman_to_dbms_output => FALSE);
END;
/
            

Backing up an archived redo log from a sequence number range

To back up specific archived redo logs for an Amazon RDS Oracle DB instance by specifying a sequence number range, use the Amazon RDS procedure rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util.backup_archivelog_sequence. The sequence number range specifies which archived redo logs to back up.

This procedure uses the following common parameters for RMAN tasks:

For more information, see Common parameters for RMAN procedures.

This procedure also uses the following additional parameters.

The following example backs up archived redo logs in the sequence number range for the DB instance.

BEGIN
    rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util.backup_archivelog_sequence(
        p_owner               => 'SYS', 
        p_directory_name      => 'MYDIRECTORY',
        p_from_sequence       => 11160,
        p_to_sequence         => 11160,
        p_parallel            => 4,  
        p_tag                 => 'MY_LOG_BACKUP',
        p_rman_to_dbms_output => FALSE);
END;
/ 

Performing a full database backup

You can perform a backup of all blocks of data files included in the backup using Amazon RDS procedure rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util.backup_database_full.

This procedure uses the following common parameters for RMAN tasks:

For more information, see Common parameters for RMAN procedures.

This procedure is supported for the following Amazon RDS for Oracle DB engine versions:

The following example performs a full backup of the DB instance using the specified values for the parameters.

BEGIN
    rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util.backup_database_full(
        p_owner               => 'SYS', 
        p_directory_name      => 'MYDIRECTORY',
        p_parallel            => 4,  
        p_section_size_mb     => 10,
        p_tag                 => 'FULL_DB_BACKUP',
        p_rman_to_dbms_output => FALSE);
END;
/

Performing an incremental database backup

You can perform an incremental backup of your DB instance using the Amazon RDS procedure rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util.backup_database_incremental.

For more information about incremental backups, see Incremental backups in the Oracle documentation.

This procedure uses the following common parameters for RMAN tasks:

For more information, see Common parameters for RMAN procedures.

This procedure is supported for the following Amazon RDS for Oracle DB engine versions:

This procedure also uses the following additional parameter.

The following example performs an incremental backup of the DB instance using the specified values for the parameters.

BEGIN
    rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util.backup_database_incremental(
        p_owner               => 'SYS', 
        p_directory_name      => 'MYDIRECTORY',
        p_level               => 1,
        p_parallel            => 4,  
        p_section_size_mb     => 10,
        p_tag                 => 'MY_INCREMENTAL_BACKUP',
        p_rman_to_dbms_output => FALSE);
END;
/

Backing up a tablespace

You can back up a tablespace using the Amazon RDS procedure rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util.backup_tablespace.

This procedure uses the following common parameters for RMAN tasks:

For more information, see Common parameters for RMAN procedures.

This procedure also uses the following additional parameter.

This procedure is supported for the following Amazon RDS for Oracle DB engine versions:

The following example performs a tablespace backup using the specified values for the parameters.

BEGIN
    rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util.backup_tablespace(
        p_owner               => 'SYS', 
        p_directory_name      => 'MYDIRECTORY',
        p_tablespace_name     => MYTABLESPACE,
        p_parallel            => 4,  
        p_section_size_mb     => 10,
        p_tag                 => 'MYTABLESPACE_BACKUP',
        p_rman_to_dbms_output => FALSE);
END;
/            

Backing up a control file

You can back up a control file using the Amazon RDS procedure rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util.backup_current_controlfile.

This procedure uses the following common parameters for RMAN tasks:

For more information, see Common parameters for RMAN procedures.

This procedure is supported for the following Amazon RDS for Oracle DB engine versions:

The following example backs up a control file using the specified values for the parameters.

BEGIN
    rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util.backup_current_controlfile(
        p_owner               => 'SYS', 
        p_directory_name      => 'MYDIRECTORY',
        p_tag                 => 'CONTROL_FILE_BACKUP',
        p_rman_to_dbms_output => FALSE);
END;
/